Bittersweet Chocolates
by LittleMonster35
Summary: Ryoma is certainly not known for his kind attitude, and Sakuno is definitely not known for her observant skills. So, add their oblivious personalities with some Valentine's day hype and store bought chocolates, you end up with unnecessary misunderstandings. But add a hint of courage at the end to that recipe and expect to see some bittersweet moments. Slight An/Momo


I do not own anything from Prince of Tennis. If I did, there would be more RyoSaku moments; that much I know. However, I do enjoy the fact that they're small moments. It's always something to look forward to since there are rarely any interactions between the two. Anyway, enjoy this little story about the cat and the pigtails!

* * *

On a nice and cool morning such as this, you'd think everyone would be satisfied with how the morning had started. With the sun shining bright even on a breezy winter day in February, who wouldn't be happy? Well, let's face it; Even if this day was like all the others, a certain cat eyed prince would still look sour so early in the morning. It's his usual face after all.

However, even though he looked indifferent every single day, he normally didn't look that irritated in the mornings. Anyone who approached him could tell he was obviously in a foul mood. With his cold and annoyed demeanor, you'd think no one would dare come to him with a joyful and playful attitude. However, today wasn't a normal day as previously mentioned. And even _the_ Ryoma Echizen could not escape it. It was the day for chocolates, love, passion and romance, and many (and I mean _many_ ) girls who recognized today's opportunity for a successful confession. At least, that's what they hoped for.

The tennis prince, of course, never cared for such mushy holidays and even took precautions to avoid being caught up with the drama that came with today. From his past experiences with girls on this horrid holiday, he didn't want to concern himself with such unnecessary interactions. Well, unnecessary interactions from girls whom he never really cared for.

"Oi, Echizen!" called a voice behind him. Ryoma had been walking to school cautiously, making sure no fan girls caught sight of him. Thankfully, it was Momoshiro who hollered at him. Ryoma gave a relieved sigh as the upperclassman waved at him while riding his bicycle.

"Are you ready for today?" he said, with a wide, sheepish grin plastered on his face. "It seems as though you'll be getting a lot of chocolates from what I've been hearing the past few days. Lucky bastard!"

Ryoma only responded with a cold look and headed towards the school gate that was only a few feet away. He took a deep breath and then slowly turned on the corner with Momoshiro.

"Ryoma-sama!" yelled the pig tail's loud friend. Almost instantly afterwards, Ryoma and Momoshiro found themselves surrounded by girls with chocolate boxes in their hands. There were probably twenty to thirty girls around them. Momoshiro blushed at the girls coming to him and demanding his acceptance of their chocolates while Ryoma stared at them indifferently.

"I'm sorry girls, but I have a girlfriend," Momoshiro stated somewhat embarrassed at his words. "So, I'm afraid I can't accept your chocolates!"

By girlfriend, he was referring to An Tachibana, a rival team's captain's sister. It had been months since they had started dating, yet, it didn't stop his school mates and fan girls from confessing their feelings.

"Eh! Momo-senpai, I bought these chocolates from Germany," said one girl.

"I also have imported chocolates! They're from Italy!" shouted another.

Ryoma only walked in annoyance as Momoshiro tried his best to persuade them to give it to other classmmates. _It's not going to work, senpai. Just walk away_ , thought Ryoma. As if on cue, Momoshiro followed behind, finally trying to abandon the girls flocking him.

They entered the school and headed towards their lockers. Luckily for them, they had stopped pestering them and let them proceed with their normal routines. After all, it would only cause them to be scolded by teachers for disruption in the halls. However, Ryoma knew the crowd of girls who scattered were secretly planning to confess later on in the school day. There were seven hours of school after all. Seven _long_ hours according to Ryoma.

As they both opened their locker doors, an abundance of chocolates came flying out and dropped to the floor. Momoshiro smiled sheepishly as Ryoma grabbed his shoes in frustration. Not even bothering to pick any of the chocolates or envelopes up, Ryoma took off his sneakers and put on his school sandals.

"I hope An doesn't get jealous over all those girls wanting to confess and give me chocolates," Momoshiro said as he thought about his calm girlfriend.

"Tachibana-san doesn't look like she'll care. Maybe she won't even hand you chocolates," Ryoma smirked. Momoshiro glared at his kouhai. _What a brat_ , Momoshiro thought to himself. Looking at the stoic face of the cat eyed prodigy, Momoshiro concocted a few words that startled Ryoma.

"I mean, she's my girlfriend so she'll definitely give me some. On the other hand, the girl you actually only want chocolates from might not have even given it a second thought," Momoshiro sneered. As he hummed to himself, he took dug up the shoes in his locker but not without feeling a cold glare from behind him.

He heard his kouhai slam his locker door next to him and heard his footsteps fading.

"So easy," he muttered to himself while smiling and wondering about the type of chocolates he'd receive from An today.

...

Proceeding to his class, English, Ryoma entered the room, his face showing a cold and unapproachable attitude. He could feel girls looking at him and debating whether it was a good time to give him chocolates. Of course, with Momoshiro's comment, he'd definitely given the young boy a reason to be in a bad mood. Still, even with his expression, many girls remained oblivious to his mood and proceeded to try and give him chocolates anyway. He only coldly rejected them before looking away to the window right next to his seat. His response cause some girls to cry while others nervously walked away.

It was only after seeing a certain auburn haired girl come in did the prince's mood begin to lighten. Taking her seat next to his, she smiled warmly and greeted him with a good morning. Unlike his attitude towards the other girls, he gave her a subtle look of warmth as he responded with a nod. He knew he couldn't just ignore her. It was Sakuno Ryuzaki after all.

"Ne, Ryoma-kun?" she said softly. "Are you alright?"

"Hn," he replied. There wasn't really much that he could say since nothing really bothered him. Or at least that's what he forced himself to believe.

He glanced at her and noticed a regular bag filled with chocolates. It looked like she had enough to feed the entire classroom. Ryoma looked back at the window, his cold expression returning.

"A-Ano, Ryoma-kun? Do you think the tennis members will like these chocolates?" she said with her bright brown orbs staring into his own golden eyes. "I didn't know what to get so I just bought some general chocolates at the store."

Ryoma looked back in annoyance and responded with a simple, "I don't really care."

"Ah… I'm sorry for wasting your time," she said with clear disappointment on her face.

...

"Sakuno!" Tomoka cried as she hugged her best friend. "Ryoma-sama rejected my chocolates! And after I put it so much hard work and dedication to finding him the best ones. They were from an expensive shop in Kyoto."

Sakuno comforted her and patted her back. "It's alright, Tomoka. Ryoma-kun probably doesn't care for chocolates."

Their friends, the trio, Kachiro, Katsuo, and Horio, sat next to them as they sighed. Even if they were on the tennis team, no girls came up to them. Well, a couple of girls came up to Katsuo and Kachiro, but Horio ended up not being approached at all.

"It seems that he's rejecting everyone's chocolates," Horio stated. "Ungrateful bastard…"

Tomoka only heavily sighed with them. "Ne, Sakuno, are you going to give him chocolates?"

Kachiro and Katsuo looked at her and cheered quietly. "Yeah, if he's going to accept someone's chocolate, it would surely be from you!"

"Eh!?" Sakuno blushed. "W-What are you t-talking about!? No, he w-wouldn't!"

The three friends laughed while Sakuno continued to show her embarrassment.

"Of course he wouldn't," a girl named Haruko chimed in from behind Sakuno, "Because he'll be accepting mine."

Tomoka turned around to face her. "Don't be such a brat."

"My chocolates are from Belgium, the best there is," she said ignorantly. "He wouldn't accept such common chocolates from that bag of yours."

Seeing that her best friend beside her was close to creating a ruckus in the cafeteria, Sakuno stood up and smiled at Haruko. "Ano, you don't need to worry. These chocolates are for the entire team because my grandma and I just wanted to show them our gratitude for their hard work. I never bought anything specifically for Ryoma-kun."

Unable to give a proper response to the calm, sweet girl in front of her, Haruko replied with a simple, "Whatever."

...

"Ryoma-sama, please accept these chocolates," Haruko said flirtatiously towards Ryoma. "They're from Belgium and they are very delicious—"

"I don't want to," he said with a bored look. "Go away."

As he walked away, he heard her friends gather around her. He could faintly hear their conversations. It's not like he wanted to listen, but they mentioned a certain pig tailed girl's name that might've caught his attention.

"Well, we don't need to worry about her. She even said so herself, she never bought chocolates just for him," Haruko said with a smirk.

 _Tch, I hate Valentine's Day_ , he thought to himself while heading towards the courts.

...

"A-Ano, thank you for your hard work!" Sakuno declared to the lined up varsity members of the tennis team who just finished practice. She held out the bag from earlier and smiled at them.

"This is just me showing my appreciation for your dedication to the sport and your team," Sumire said as Sakuno began handing the wrapped red boxes of chocolates out. Starting from Tezuka, Sakuno gave the chocolates to each member of the team.

"Ah, Momo! I thought you weren't going to accept anyone's chocolates except for An's?" Eiji questioned him with a suspicious tone.

"These aren't from a girl confessing though!" he said as he happily took one piece out of the little box.

"Thank you," said Kaidoh as he blushed at Sakuno's warm smile. Momoshiro and Eiji snickered at him causing them to be chased by an irritated looking snake.

After many thanks and appreciation from the team members, Sakuno finally faced Ryoma. "T-Thank you for your hard work."

Holding the chocolates out in front of him, she gave him a genuine smile. It was enough to make him rethink what he was about to do. Nonetheless, he was still angry at the situation and proceeded with his original answer.

"I don't want it."

"Eh?" she said, surprised.

"H-Hey O'chibi!" Eiji yelled. "Don't be mean and accept them. They're appreciation gifts."

"Which is why I don't want them," he said walking away. Without a single glance behind him, he continued walking to the locker rooms, hoping to get ready to leave without being scolded by his other teammates.

"Che, that stupid brat," Momoshiro muttered.

"Ne, Ryuzaki-san, don't take it personal. He's rejected everyone's chocolate today," Oishi reminded her and everyone else. "He's not really known for a sweet tooth."

Though Ryoma had already left minutes before, she continued her gaze at that direction. Thankfully, she knew the regulars couldn't see her face. Thankfully.

"Sakuno-chan?" Eiji called. "Are you okay?"

Forcing a smile, she looked back at them and tried to hide her sadness. "Y-Yeah, I knew he wouldn't accept anyone's chocolates today. So, I-I prepared myself for that rejection. Here, Eiji-senpai, you can have these chocolates."

Giving one last fake smile after handing the remaining box to the upperclassman, she excused herself and exited the tennis courts, leaving in the opposite direction of the tennis prodigy. The regulars all looked at each other with pitiful looks. Well, except for Fuji. "Saa, I wonder what he meant by what he said."

The regulars all looked at him. Eiji was the one to speak up, "What do you mean?"

"I wonder why Ryoma didn't accept those _appreciation_ chocolates."

...

"Hey, Echizen. You were cruel to Ryuzaki-chan back there. You need to apologize," Momoshiro scolded Ryoma while walking with him after school.

"It doesn't concern me," he said indifferently.

After cursing at him for a few minutes, Momoshiro finally gave up and cried in his mind. _Sorry, Sakuno-chan, this brat doesn't know what's good for him. An… It's a good thing we're together already…_

...  
...

"Ryuzaki-san?" called a familiar girl.

After the incident with Ryoma after tennis practice, Sakuno found herself a sanctuary in a nearby playground. Luckily, no one was around this late in the afternoon to see her tears. That is… Until a blonde haired girl approached her.

"Ah! Tachibana-san! I didn't see you there!" Sakuno said, almost yelled, at her sudden appearance. She took the swing next to Sakuno's and stared at her.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I saw you crying and I didn't want to neglect a friend," she said warmly.

"N-No, you're fine! And um, thank you," Sakuno tried to reassure her with a forced smile. "I'm fine, really!"

"It doesn't look like it to me," she said with a knowing look. Looking at the nervous girl, An fixed her gaze on a little silver wrapped box with a red bow on her lap. "Are there chocolates inside that box?"

"Oh," she looked down and realized she was still clutching the small box she had taken out earlier.

"Is that for Ryoma?" she asked and grinned after Sakuno's face instantly turned red. "Ah, so it is! It's the end of the school day, so when are you—"

"I'm not going to," she interrupted her. "A-Ano, Ryoma-kun doesn't like sweets. It was apparent when he didn't a-accept the chocolates from any of the girls at school. He also didn't accept the appreciation chocolates I bought for the team…"

An blinked twice and analyzed her predicament. "So, what you're saying is you never really gave him a gift meant especially for him from you?"

"W-Wha—! I mean, I handed him chocolates."

"But… It wasn't those chocolates you have in your hand, right? The one made specifically for him?"

"Um… No," she said followed by a sad sigh, "I can't possibly give this to him. I wanted to see if he'd even accept the ones I got for the team, but as I thought, he didn't."

"I believe it's because they weren't really from you," An smiled at her and then looked to the sky. "Boys are very forward especially when they know they deserve something. Momoshiro is definitely an example! I teased him yesterday about not giving him chocolates, and he made such a big fuss about it. It might not seem like he is, but I believe Echizen-san might be the same in which he expects something for him and _only_ for him."

Sakuno looked at her and wondered for a moment. _Would it really be fine? Would he really accept them?_

"B-But he didn't accept anyone else's chocolates," she pointed out once again.

"Ryuzaki-san, your feelings are the only thing that matters. Even if you are miles apart, your feelings are able to reach him even if it feels like they won't. However, if you don't try to reach him at all, your feelings will never be acknowledged."

After clearly thinking about An's words, Sakuno finally smiled and gave in. "You're right. I need to—"

"An!" they heard a deep voice call from behind. "Did you wait— Ah, Ryuzaki-chan!"

Looking behind them, Momoshiro and an indifferent looking Ryoma stood somewhat awkwardly. "What are you doing here?"

"We're just catching up," An said winking at the girl next to her. She stood up and mouthed good luck to her before running towards the boy with the bicycle. "Anyway, we'll be late for our movie. Goodbye, Ryuzaki-san and Echizen-san!"

"W-Wait!" Momoshiro tried as his girlfriend dragged him away from the two. "Oi, Echizen! Be nice!"

As the couple walked away, Ryoma looked back at the blushing Sakuno. Knowing she had been crying from the puffiness of her eyes, he stopped his pride from influencing him. He sighed as he took a step towards her. "Ne, sorry for earlier."

Standing up, Sakuno kept the box behind her and smiled at him. "N-No, it's a-alright! I didn't mean to make you u-upset. A-Ano, there were many girls who gave you c-chocolates, so it's to be expected!"

"Hn," was his only reply. Sakuno smiled nervously as she tried to build up courage to present the box she had in her hands.

"B-But… Even so…" she walked towards him and inhaled. Within a quick second, she revealed the chocolates that she hid behind her. Ryoma looked at the carefully wrapped box. The wrapping was silver. And the shape was different from the previous ones he saw at the courts.

"I had these for you, but since my grandma wanted me to give the regulars those chocolates, I didn't want to overwhelm you," Sakuno said all too quickly with a heavy blush and her eyes closed. Even with her sudden courage, she couldn't bring herself to look at his expression. She believed there was a possibility that he looked at her in irritation, and a cold glare from him may make her cry again at this point.

After what seemed like forever, he grabbed the chocolates much to her surprise and immediately opened the gift. The box was quite peculiar as there were no words or labels written on it.

"Is s-something wrong?" she asked, noticing his hesitance. "A-Ah, you don't have to eat it. A-Ano, they're homemade chocolate so they might not be as good as those ones that the other girls—"

He interrupted her with the sound of him chewing on a piece of chocolate. "Ryoma-kun…"

"Oishi…" he muttered, putting another one in his mouth. "It's bittersweet."

Sakuno blushed and then gave him her genuine smile that she knew she could only give to him. "Well, it was made especially for you. Ryoma-kun doesn't like anything too sweet."

"So, you hid these from me all day?" Ryoma questioned with a subtle tint of pink on his cheeks. Fortunately for him, it was concealed from Sakuno's view due to the rays of the sunset in the distance.

"Y-Yes, like I said," she looked away from him, "I didn't think you'd a-accept them."

"Mada mada dane, Ryuzaki," he said with a smirk. With that, he finished the last piece and thanked her for the chocolates. "Ne, make more for me."

"What!?" she blushed again for the umpteenth time. "W-Why?"

"I only like your chocolates."

"Mou, Ryoma-kun," Sakuno pouted. "Tachibana-san was right. You are greedy…"

...

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Momoshiro asked his girlfriend as they walked towards their movie theater.

"I think they'll be just fine," An said gladly. "She made special chocolates for Echizen-san, you know."

"Oh!" Momoshiro finally realized the upperclassman's words. "That's what Fuji-senpai was talking about!"

"By the way Momo…"

"Yes," he responded with a wide smile for his girlfriend.

"How many girls tried to give you chocolates today?" she asked calmly. But with a dark aura around her.

"Uh…"


End file.
